Smallholder farmers will soon be better able to weigh up the cost and benefits of adopting new practices that support some of the most overlooked contributors to global food security - the insects and other animals that pollinate their crops and boost yields. FAO’s Global Action on Pollination Services has published a 5-step handbook that smallholder farmers and organizations that work with them can use to identify such pollinator-friendly practices and evaluate their impacts on livelihoods, incomes and health.

The handbook draws on work with farmers in Ghana, India, Kenya and Nepal. It recognises that farmers need to be directly involved in testing practices that encourage pollinators to visit their crops so that they can assess the benefits and costs for themselves. The publication has been produced under the Global Pollination Project, a Global Environment Facility-supported project, implemented by United Nations Environment Programme and executed by the Food and Agriculture Organization, with seven national partners. The production of the handbook was facilitated by funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development.